APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford talked with Local Five’s Kaitlin Corbett on Thursday morning to discuss the relocation of the Appleton Public Library as well as the City’s 2024 city budget.

The first topic discussed was the new location for the Appleton Public Library. “At the end of September, we got word from our current landlord at the old Best Buy on Kensington that our lease would not be renewed at the end of December,” began Mayor Woodford. “It was never a long-term solution, and we’re happy to see that those buildings are going back into their intended use for retail. but it did put a challenge in front of us.”

As a result, Appleton is proposing to engage in a partnership with the Thompson Center on Lourdes. “We approached the Thompson Center and asked if they might be interested in a partnership where the library would occupy that space in the immediate term, and then ultimately when they build the new senior center they would move into that space,” explained Mayor Woodford.

The move would potentially get underway in November, as it awaits approval, and Mayor Woodford says their expectation is for the library to be up and running in early 2024 at the new site on East College Avenue.

With 2024 right around the corner, the next topic discussed was how the public can access the upcoming 2024 budget listening sessions.

“We have a budget listening session that will be held virtually and then we also have a budget public hearing and budget adoption where there will be public discussion available at both of those sessions coming up in November,” said Mayor Woodford.

The full interview with Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford can be watched in the video above.